Janitorial Supervisor At Lemuel Shattuck Hospital Becomes First State Employee To Receive COVID Vaccine
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A longtime employee at a state hospital became the first state employee in Massachusetts to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
55-year-old Sophal "Paula" Soth, the janitorial supervisor at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, got the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot Friday afternoon at the hospital where she has worked for 30 years.
"The vaccination is important in helping protect me from COVID," Soth said. "When I was told I had the opportunity to take the vaccine and that I was the first state employee, I felt honored."
The facility is a teaching hospital located in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood that serves a large number of economically disadvantaged patients.
State officials have said they expect to receive 300,000 doses of the vaccine before the end of December. The first phase of vaccinations in the state will target health care workers, emergency responders and residents in long-term care facilities.
Earlier in the week, 96-year-old Margaret Klessens, a World War II veteran in Bedford, was among the first VA patients in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)